Sept. 17, 2012
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Cedar Bluff Tigers honor '62 team with 62-21 win By SCOTT WRIGHT L.D. BRUCE FIELD — For two teams that had never played each other before, there was an awful lot of history on the football field in Cedar Bluff Friday night. At halftime of a game it would eventually win by the eerily appropriate score of 62-21, home-standing Cedar Bluff honored the members of its undefeated 1962 team in style. Quarterback Levi Mintz led the way, completing nine passes for 244 yards and four scores. Fifty years ago the Tigers, coached by the man whose name graces the field today, finished the season 10-0 and won the Choccolocco Conference title. In an era before a playoff system was established, the Birmingham News declared the Tigers state champions in their classification. The members of the '62 team in attendance had once outscored their opponents 280-26. Surely, then, they were proud of the young men they watched wear the red and white Friday night. By the time the “old-timers” made their way to midfield at halftime, the scoreboard read 42-0. Not that coach Jonathan McWhorter was entirely pleased with his team's effort. “The score is not indicative of our play and that's not to take anything away from Coosa,” McWhorter. “We did not have the intensity and effort I wanted us to have tonight.” Still, despite losing senior Robert “Bam” Henderson for the season last week because of a knee injury, there were several offensive bright spots in the backfield for the Tigers. Sophomore running back D'Shawn Fife carried 15 times for 162 yards. Mintz's second pass of the night landed in DeAngelo Hardy's hands from 34 yards out with 11:28 to play in the first quarter. Curtis Abernathy's extra point made the score 7-0. Later in the first after recovering a Conqueror fumble, Abernathy busted through the line and outran the defense for a 62-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Mintz passed to sophomore Devante Dixon for the Tigers' third score early in the second quarter. The play covered 51 yards. On Coosa's next offensive snap, Dixon picked off an errant pass and returned it 48 yards for a 28-0 lead. Mintz found Hardy again on the Tigers' next possession, for a 44-yard touchdown. Just before halftime, Terrance Scales returned another Cedar Bluff interception for a score. The Conquerors finally got on the board in the third quarter on Austin Mills' two-yard run, but Mintz answered right back on the next Tiger possession. The senior's final pass of the night was a 77-yard touchdown to Alex Hairston. On Cedar Bluff's next drive, Fife ran for 77 yards and a touchdown and a 55-6 lead. After Mills ran 77 yards for another Coosa Christian score, sophomore Blake Terry returned the ensuing kickoff for 72 yards and a 62-13 Cedar Bluff lead late in the third quarter. The Tigers (3-0, 2-0) travel to Jacksonville Christian Friday for another Region 7 matchup. |